When it comes to money for nothing, the NFL is currently getting nothing from any of the various sportsbooks.
As Sports Business Journal noted on Wednesday, as of April 1 the league’s various sportsbook deals have ended.
None of the three existing partners — FanDuel, DraftKings, and Caesars — renewed before the expiration of their deals at midnight on March 31. Negotiations, according to the NFL, are ongoing.
Per the report, negotiations between the NFL and FanDuel and DraftKings became bogged down over the price increase for official streaming data from Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive data distributor. Caesars, per the report, was not expected to renew.
With FanDuel and DraftKings continuing to be the Coke and Pepsi of American sportsbooks, it’s not as if there are many alternatives that can step in and stuff the league’s pockets with copious amounts of cash. That gives the sportsbooks real leverage.
It also opens the door for the league to have a truly exclusive arrangement with one of the two companies, shutting the other out of official NFL business.
The league could still pivot to one of the lesser sportsbooks, doing a deal that would potentially elevate the company into the upper echelon of sportsbooks.
As a league spokesperson told SBJ, the NFL is open to “various league partnership structures.”
Until a deal is done, the NFL is open for business. Until business is done, no betting company will be able to claim an official sportsbook partnership with the league.
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